Well reamer



May 15, 1923.

F. SAGER ET AL WELL REAMER Filed June 5. 1

B I C/ Patented May 15 19 23.

UNITE s'r i 1 ,454,863 TENT; -oFF cE.-

FREDBICK SAGER, 0F TULSA, OKLAHOMA, AND HOWARD R. HABDEN BUBG, OF

, KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

WELL REAMiiR.

Application filed June 5,

Missouri, respectively, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Well Reamers, of which the following is a complete specification.

This invention relates to well reamers and mor especially to reamers for enlarging oil well holes below the casings thereof to pro vide for the further sinking of such casings, and is designed more especially as an improvement in the similar device upon which Patent'No. 815,012 was granted to us on the 13th of March, 1906, the cutters of which reamer inthe attempt to withdraw the latter, occasionally catch on the casing at the lower end thereof, this being more especially noticeable where the parts are of bulky construction as where used in casings of twelve inches or more in diameter. This trouble is serious as sometimes the entire casing must be pulled to effect the extraction of the reamer.

Another objection to reamers of the aforesaid type is due to frequent breakage of the flange of the body portion and cutters.

Our object, therefore, is to produce a construction for insuring the full and proper collapse of the reamer whenever lifting to operative condition,

force is applied to it to overcome the resistance of the customary springs for lifting and effecting the expansion of the reamer and on which the imposition of breakage strains on the flanges mentioned is avoided.

With this object in view, the invention consists in certain novel and useful features of construction and combinations of parts as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of the lower end of a reamer embodying the invention, with the cuttersone only of which appears-in elevated or operative position;

Figure 2 is an elevation taken at right angles to Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an elevation corresponding to' Figure 2, but with the cutters in their lowered or inoperative position, said figof Jackson, State of yielding pressure by 1922. Serial No. 565,803.

ure also showing the well casing in section and showing a part of the body'portion of the reamer in section on the dotted line IIL-III of Figure 1, the cutters being shown in elevation;

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line IV-IV- of Figur'e 2, and also showing in section the lower end of the casing;

Figure 5 is a cross section on the line' VV of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a cross section on the line VI-' VI of Figure2, and also shows the cutters in dotted line;

Figure 7 is a section taken on the line VII-VII of Figure 3, but omitting the casing; and

Figure 8 is a detail perspective view of one of the cutters of the reamer.

Referring now to the drawing in detail,

1 indicates the body portion of the reamer,

the same being of circular form in cross section, and at a suitable distance from its lower end it is faced off at diametrically 0pposite. sides to provide downwardly diverging shoulders 2 and a depending portion, having substantially parallel faces. The depending portion 3 with the parallel faces terminates in a reduced tapered terminal 4 the lower end of the portion 3 being face off at opposite sidesto produce said terminal and downwardly converging shoulders 5. The depending portion 3 is provided at its side margins with side walls 6 extend-- .ing from points slightly below the said shoulders 2 to the loweriextremity of the terminal tapered portion, and said walls are undercut at 7 from their upper ends to points intermediate the length of the said terminal portion. At the lower ends of and in the plane of the undercuts the terminal portion is provided on its opposite flat faces with lugs 8 extending in substantially parallel relation to the downwardly converging shoulders 5.

The body portion 1 isprovided in the plane of the central portion of the faced sides with longitudinal grooves 9 which extend down through the shoulders 5, and fitting slidingly in said grooves 9 are rods 10 equipped at their lower ends with cylindrical enlargements or headsll, for a purpose which hereinafter appears, these rods being normally held elevated-with a means of springs (not shown) as corresponding in all substantial respects to and functioning like the springs of the aforesaid patent.

The cutters 12 of the reamer fit against the flat sides of the depending portion and between the side walls 0 thereof and are adapted for vertical sliding action, and in order to retain them in position, they are provided with bevelled or dovetailed flan es at the opposite margins of their inner si es, these flanges 13, extending from their upper ends to within a suitable distance of their lower ends, and having inclined notches 14 for receiving the lugs 8; as hereinafterex plained. In the diametric plane of the grooves 9, the upper ends of the cutters are bifurcated as at 15 and-the lower ends of the bifurcations are formed with alined cylindrical enlargements 16, the bifurcations 15 accommodating the rods 10 and the enlargements 16. the heads of the rods with suflicient looseness to permit of a slight pivotal movement of the cutters toward and from each other after they have been disposed in'thir lowered or inoperative position.

Assuming that it is desired to lower the reamer into the well casing C for the purpose of reaming out the hole preliminary to further lowering or driving of the casing, the reamer is arranged as shown in Figure 3, in which position it will be noted. the cutters wholly underlie the shoulders2 of the body of the reamer, the cutters being held in this position against the tendency of the springs referred to. to raise them, until the reamer is inserted into the casing after which the latter will guard againsttheir upward movement until the cutters have attained a plane below the lower end of the casing when the action of the springs will impart relative upward movement to the cutters and through the inclination of the shoulders 5 and lugs 8, causeihem to slide outwardly and upwardly until their bevelled edges 13 engage with the undercut portion 7 of the body portion of the reamer, the slight pivotal operation of the cutters on the lower ends of the rods 10 permitting the cutters to assume a position as explained and parallel with the flat faces of the portion 3. As soon as they assume this position they are drawn upward by the springs until-arrested by the overlying shoulders 2, as shown most clearly by Figures 2 and 4, and when they attain this position it will be seen that their outer portions or edges underlie the lower end of the casing. which if necessary, has been drawnupward a suflicient distance to accommodate the length of the cutters in order to dispose the lower or cutting edges of the latter above the uncut portion of the wall of the hole. as

shown most clearly by Figure 2. VVit-h the parts in this position, the reamer is then operated 1n the regular manner for the puroperation starts the upper ends of the cutters engage the lower endof the casing and as a result due to the upward movement of the body portion of the reamer, there is a relative downward movement of the cutters on the depending portion of the reamer, and when the cutters attain the plane indicated by Figure 3, pressure thereof against the lower end of the casing causes the cutters to swing inward and assume downwardly converging positions against the tapered faces of the terminal portion 4, when the cutters lie wholly below the shoulders 2 and can be drawn up through the casing, after which the casing is lowered or driven more deeply. The operations described are repeated until the casing is sunk to the required depth as will be readily understood.

It will be apparent that the inward swing of the cutters begins as points midway their length attain positionsopposite the down'wardly-converging shoulders. owing to the fact that at points outward of the plane of the rods, the cutters are applying upward pressure on the lower end of the casing, the cutters fulcruming on the lower extremities of the parallel faces of portion 3 in this operation until the lower extremities of-the cutters abut at their innersides against the lugs 8, after which their angular position is substantially maintained until the upward movement of the body portion brings the lugs thereof opposite the notches 14 when the cutters as a whole snap from below the wall of the casing and flatly against the tapered faces of the lower end of the body portion and wholly under the downwardlythe lugs and notches preventing such pivotal action of the cutters as would result in their upper ends swinging outward to positions below and in the plane of the wall of the Gas ing and thus interfere with the upward passage of the cutters through the casing, this objectional outward swing of the cutters being frequent with the type of reamer disclosed by the aforesaid patent, especially where the reamer is for use with casings equaling or exceeding twelve inches in diameter.

From the above description it will be apparent that we have produced a well reamer en'ibodying the feature of advantage set forth as desirable in the statement of the object of the invention, and which may be modified in minor particulars within the principle of construction and mode of operation involved.

e claim: I

1. In a well reamer, a body portion faced off at opposite sides to provide downwardlvfacing s oulders and a depending portion posite sides and in the vertical planes of the undercutsand at the lower ends of the latter having downwardly-converging lugs, the body portion also having centralvertical grooves terminating at their lower ends in said converging shoulders; in combination with a pair of cutters fitting slidingly against the flat sides and between the side walls of the depending portion and limited in their upward movement by the firstnamed shoulders; said cutters having tapered flanges dovetailed in the undercuts of said walls and provided at intermediate points with notches for receiving the said lugs when the cutters are at the downward limit of their adjustment and below said converging shoulders and fitting flatly against the tapered sides of the terminal portion, the cutters being of such proportion that when elevated, they shall project outwardly beyond the first-named shoulders to cuttin or reaming position, and when m their ower position to wholly underlie said first-named shoulders, and vertically-slidable means connected to the cutters. v

2. In a well reamer, a body portion faced off at opposite sides and reduced to provide downwardly-converglng shoulders and a tapered lower end; said end at an inter mediate point having downwardly-converging lugs,-a pair of cutters slidable on the body-portion to fit flatly against the faced sides thereof higher than or below the said shoulders, and provided with notches for receiving the said lugs when the cutters fit flatly against the said tapered portion, and means connected to the cutters for sliding them upward on the body portion and having a play connection to permit them to as sume positions parallel or in downwardlyconverging relation to each other. 4

In witness whereof we hereunto aflix our signatures.

FREDRICK SAGER. HOWARD R. HARDENBURG. 

